Aged trees in Shillong pose threat to pedestrians; Disaster Management deptt seeks joint inspection

SHILLONG:

The Revenue and Disaster Management Department has written to the Forest and Environment department to carry out a joint inspection in different areas in and around Shillong city to identify the aged trees that pose a threat to the pedestrians.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Kyrmen Shylla on Tuesday said that the exercise is needed to prevent any disaster in the future.

Shylla is hopeful that the Forest and Environment department will respond positively to the letter considering the sizable number of aged trees in the city.

"We are also seeing that there are many big trees near the roadside that need to be cut down to prevent any kind of mishap," the minister said.

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Recently, tree-felling incidents were reported near Raj Bhavan and Rhino Point.

"Luckily no one was injured in these two incidents," Shylla said.

The Revenue and Disaster Minister also stated that he would personally talk to the Forest and Environment Minister, James PK Sangma in this regard.

It may be recalled that three people were killed in the 2017 tree-felling incident near Raj Bhavan.

After the incident, the State government had identified around 500 trees across Shillong as vulnerable and posing a threat to pedestrians.

The Government had also constituted six committees to carry out a survey in different areas in and around the city. The Meghalaya High Court later issued an order barring the State Government from cutting down the identified trees.